
z^ D D E E S S 



MERCHANTS OF THE CITY OF xNORFOLK, VA. 



imiGADIER-GENERAL HENRY M. NAGLEE; 



HIS REPLY. 



October 1863. 



PIIILADELPm A. 

1863. 




Class. 
Book. 



VZ34 



■ KgAa 



ADDRESS. 



Norfolk, Va., Oct. 2, 1863. 
BRIGADIER-GENEEAL HENRY M. NAGLEE. 

General : — 

We, citizen-merchants of Norfolk and vicinity, 
have learned, with feelings of deep regret, that you 
have been relieved of the command of the District of 
Virginia, and we feel that we should not be doing justice 
to ourselves, or to you, were we to omit, upon this occa- 
sion, the frank expression of our sentiments towards 
you. 

You have had control of this military district for but 
two short months. We attest, what candor compels us 
to say, that during this brief period of time, amid the 
most trying and complicated occasions, you have given 
such incontrovertible evidence of a high order of admin- 
istrative ability, so marked with a courteous bearing 
toward us and our fellow-citizens, that we should be 
wanting in those generous feelings which inspire our 
common humanity were we to withhold upon this occa- 
sion this just and public appreciation of your services. 

We know but too well, and feel that invidious causes 



4 






have been at work in this removal that should never 
have found a responsive throb in the bosoms of honest 
men, and that there are those who have sought to dis- 
place you simply because, as an honest man, you have 
proudly and patriotically stood in their way of whole- 
sale robbery and plunder — men whose hearts never pul- 
sated with a feeling beyond that of selfish gain. 

When you took charge of this department there was 
neither order, system, nor rule ; your predecessor — marked 
by indecision of character, and wanting in the higher 
attributes of manhood — became, in the hands of a few, 
a vacillating, oscillating pendulum. You commenced 
the work of reform, which struck at practices incon- 
sistent with good faith, and the restoration of law and 
order — out of chaos sprang the beauty of system : justice 
was administered with a firm and even hand to the loyal 
and disloyal, according to their respective deserts; and 
many, touched by the logic of unabused power, hastened 
to join the loyal standard. Indeed, sir, such was the 
people's faith in the honesty of your purposes, o,nd the 
wisdom of your acts, that we believe, under your benign 
rule, the partition wall between union and disunion citi- 
zens — comprising a population of over a hundred thou- 
sand souls — was fast being broken down, and in their 
bosoms were being rekindled the still latent fires of 
patriotic emotion for our generous country. 

Your policy was based upon the philosophic theory — 
taught by the Fathers of the Republic, sustained with 
the honest purposes of "your enthusiastic soul — " that 
force alone could not restore this Union ;" because force 
is not an element of Union. It was by this policy you 
essayed, successfully, to inspire the people with un- 
bounded confidence in the fostering care of a constitu- 
tional government. You made no war upon helpless 
women and children and a defenseless people ; you pro- 



tected tlie wenk and restrained the strong; and in the 
magnificent charities of a warm heart, you had inaugu- 
rated for the government of the people of Norfolk and 
vicinity the grateful blessings of civil liberty. 

We know, General, this wise and eminently humane 
policy has had its beneficent effect, and that thousands 
of citizens in this department, hitherto disloyal, were 
gradually returning to their constitutional allegiance. 
The change was indeed marked — so marked that w^e 
believe if a fiiir election could be held in Norfolk and 
surrounding counties — including those in the eastern 
section of North Carolina bordering on the Virginia line 
— there would be a large majority for "Union." But, 
sir, we confess with feelings of humiliation — because you 
were doing your work well, too well for those who seek 
to destroy, and who saw, with envious feelings, the in- 
creasing circle of your well-earned fame — you were hastily 
relieved of the command in this department. We, in 
common with thousands of others, regret it, deeply regret 
it — we regret it because discipline and order are the 
work of experience and time; and we regret it the more 
because our cause must and will suffer by so sudden a 
departure. 

But, sir, we are overcome with the occasion, and words 
become feeble instruments of thought, and withal are 
vain. The fiat has gone forth, and we submit. We 
have slightly touched upon the causes which prompted 
this address ; we deeply regret the necessity which moves 
us to action ; but we could not resist the temptation to 
essay to do justice to your noble impulses and wise 
policy — a policy, permit us. General, with feeling empha- 
sis to say, this district will ever remember with grateful 
hearts; and when war with his desolating hand shall 
have ceased to redden with the blood of brothers, and 
peace with its golden hues shall have returned to bless a 



stricken people, <around your brow shall gather the ever- 



green laurel of unsullied fame. 



J. G. 

E. W. Whipple, 

F. GOTTSBERGER, 
E. C. FOLGER, 

Porter Sherman, 
Danl, Husted, 
Joseph Milward, 
J. C. Jones, 
D. A. Underdown, 
Henry B. Allen, 
William B. Tyson, 
Geo. McAlpin, 
J. II. King, 
W. W. Shore, 
W. E. Lewis, 
H. Wertheimier, 
B. V. Seldner, 
Julius Drilsen, 
M. Brylawski, 

S. G. TUTTLE, 

A. Crook, 
Fred. Page, 



Shaw, 

President of Board of lYade. 
Jno. Frazer, 
II. B. Allen, 
j. j. woodbridge, 
John Moore, 

EZEKIEL YaNCE, 

0. E. Maltby, 
A. D. Fitch, 
F. R. Baird, 
S. Ullmann, 

1. & T. Griffin, 
J. A. Sims, 

A. FOIAYE, 

0. S. Baker, 
S. C. F. Carter, 
Geo. E. Maltbee, 

B. K McKuNON, 
T. A. Page, 

Sherman Brothers & Co., 
Chas. S. Holt, 
Edwd. p. Snively, 
B. G. Blackwood. 



REPLY. 



Philadelphia, Oct. 6, 1863. 

Gentlemen, merchants of the city of Norfolk :t— 
Thanks, many thanks, for this second expression of 

your very kind and friendly regard. 

Our relations were confined, as you say, to two short 

months, but necessity brought us quickly together. The 

rapid changes that attend the contest that so unfor- 



tunately surrounds you, compelled us to think and act 
and meet all emergencies as promptly as they arose. 

My connection with the merchants of Norfolk was 
most satisfactory. They asked only what was reason- 
able, and never objected to the rigorous restrictions that 
were necessarily exacted of them. 

Our official connection, as you say, has been abruptly 
ended; but our social relations, let me hope, have just 
begun, and I need hardly assure you that, placed where- 
ever I may be, my best efforts will again be directed to 
serve our unfortunate suffering country in this her hour 
of dreadful trial. 

Let me request that you will hold in your memory 
the unfortunate people that surround you. Shut not 
your eyes to the embarrassment and distress and suffer- 
ing that exist to an alarming extent in many parts of 
your country, and, understanding these misfortunes, let 
a liberal, generous, and just rule govern your united and 
individual relations toward them. 

You are non-combatants, you are loyal men of great 
influence, and it becomes your peculiar duty to stay the 
mad passions that everywhere prevail ; it is your especial 
province to insist upon those divine injunctions which 
require that you shall not exact an eye for an eye, but 
that you shall return good for evil. 

My object in coming into this war was to crush the 
rebellion, and restore the country in all of its strength 
to the proud position we had just obtained among the 
nations of the earth ; but not, in doing this, to violate 
any of its fundamental laws. We shall again live to- 
gether as fellow-citizens and friends; and let us not for- 
get that when that time shall come, each people will 
again control their own district, and dictate by their free 
choice who shall be their legislators, judges, and juries. 

Gentlemen, in the excitement and changes and alarms 



of war, let us not forget the foundation upon which we 
stand; remember that we are bound together b}^ the 
sacred compact of the Constitution. Without it we are 
lost; with it, and the whole of it, we have a bond and 
union of heart and soul — and a strength that must tri- 
umph over all of those that would tear it asunder. 

This glorious fabric was not designed by the Almighty 
for a useless purpose; and, in His mighty wisdom, He will 
so counsel that He will preserve our country in all of its 
strength and might and power for the extraordinary uses 
for which it was destined by Him. 

Believe me, gentlemen, there is a destiny which we 
cannot control, but which has some good and wise pur- 
pose. Our people have forgotten the wise and honest 
principles that were sown by our early ancestors — we 
have gone from bad to worse, until corruption filled all 
places, and brought this dreadful punishment upon us. 

Let us return to first principles, and, with humble ac- 
knowledgments, discard all evil, and establish virtuous 
and just rules for our future conduct. 

Let me thank you again and again for this most flat- 
tering testimonial of your kind and friendly feeling, and 
to assure you it shall ever stimulate me to renewed effort, 
and shall always be remembered with great pride and 
satisfaction. 

Very respectfully. 

Your obedient servant, 

HENRY M. NAGLEE, 

Brigadier- General. 
J. G. Shaw, Esq., 

President of the Board of Trade, Norfolk, Va., 
E. W. Whipple, F. Gottsberger, 

And others. 



